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Pope Guilty posted:Are Carpe Jugulum and Lords and Ladies nearly the same book, or am I hallucinating? The side effect of reading almost all the Discworld novels is they really start to blur together after awhile 
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Nov 23, 2007 08:53
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daggerdragon posted:The side effect of reading almost all the Discworld novels is they really start to blur together after awhile This is sadly true, it's almost like literary Alzheimer's or something.
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Nov 23, 2007 20:54
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thrakkorzog posted:I think it's because Nanny and Granny suffer a bit from Rincewind syndrome. Their characters can't really change, so they're a bit limited in their narrative conflicts. Granny Weatherwax is never going to see the error of her ways and decide to stop messing with people's heads. They've already made peace with themselves, the gods, and nature, so they're pretty much limited to Man vs. Man or Man vs. Society conflicts. They can either go out into the world and fight something, (Witches Abroad, Maskerade) or stay home and fight some external threat. (Lords and Ladies, Carpe Jugulum) The great part is that I believe Pratchett realizes this created new characters for his series. We've already gotten two novels out of Moist Von Lipwing so at least Pratchett is always willing to try new things and different types of characters. Me, through, I'm hoping for a Night Watch Charlie's Angels spoof with Angua,Sally and Cheri.
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Nov 23, 2007 22:48
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daggerdragon posted:The side effect of reading almost all the Discworld novels is they really start to blur together after awhile Well, I think this is the most extreme example; that is, the vampires were pretty much a direct knockoff of the elves.
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Nov 23, 2007 23:55
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Mr. Stay-Puft posted:Well, I think this is the most extreme example; that is, the vampires were pretty much a direct knockoff of the elves. I don't think they were knockoffs, so much as Pratchett trying to parody fantasy staples, and they both kind of ended up the same. Also, for those who didn't know, Ion is showing Hogfather in the U.S. this Sunday night at 6 Central time. It's kind of one of those weird basic cable channels that a lot of people have without knowing they have it.
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Nov 24, 2007 02:08
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Pratchett has a pretty good idea of the shelf-life of his characters, hence him retiring Rincewind and semi-retiring the Witches. However, if he never writes one last Watch or Death/Susan book, he'll have made a grave mistake. Sally and Lobsang have enough potential for at least one more book. (Well, Lobsang does for sure, Sally gets a bit overshadowed by Otto.)
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Nov 24, 2007 11:48
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I'm pretty sure The Watch are his favourite group and he's just going to keep banging them out until his head explodes.
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Nov 26, 2007 12:42
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Nilbop posted:I'm pretty sure The Watch are his favourite group and he's just going to keep banging them out until his head explodes. And I hope that cranial explosion is a long time coming, because the 'Guards' books are by far my favourite ones 
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Nov 26, 2007 12:45
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magimix posted:And I hope that cranial explosion is a long time coming, because the 'Guards' books are by far my favourite ones I had to think about it, but I agree, the Guard books are probably the best, although the Lipwig stories are my personal favourites <  > they seem like up-and-comers to me.
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Nov 27, 2007 10:36
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Moist von Lipwig posted:I had to think about it, but I agree, the Guard books are probably the best, although the Lipwig stories are my personal favourites < The Lipwig stories are your most favoured? You don't say!  I do agree with you, though; Lipwig is a fun and interesting character, and he works well with 'big caper' type stories, adding a new levity to the Discworld that tempers the darkness of some of the other recent books.I don't criticise the darkness evident in some of the books, incidentally; I very much appreciate it. But it is also nice to have that balanced against something lighter in tone.
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Nov 27, 2007 11:23
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I've just re-read Thud, and it has cemented in my mind the though that, with his watch around him Vimes really doesn't need to do much these days to get things done. I loved Night Watch because it took him out of that support structure and back to having to do things for himself. It's sort of the same as with the Witch books, I mean what's left for Granny to beat? I think what I would be really happy for, was if Vimes and Willikins managed to end up somewhere on there own. A reluctant nobleman from the streets and his well spoken yet highly dangerous butler versus the world.
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Nov 27, 2007 21:12
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Did anyone else get the impression that Thud was written expressly to sell board game and picture book tie-ins? I don't mind because it's actually one of the best books in the series and I love how Pratchett developed dwarf culture in it. The "WHERE'S MY COW?" sequence really felt shoehorned in though. Mr.Stay_Puft posted:Well, I think this is the most extreme example; that is, the vampires were pretty much a direct knockoff of the elves. It's not a bad formula as these things go, and it might still work if he had kept finding new settings for it to play out in. It didn't help that Carpe Jugulum was really quite a boring book too. It makes Lords and Ladies look worse by association
Fortinbras fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Nov 27, 2007 |
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Nov 27, 2007 22:10
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Man of Straw posted:I don't mind because it's actually one of the best books in the series and I love how Pratchett developed dwarf culture in it. The "WHERE'S MY COW?" sequence really felt shoehorned in though. I got teary eyed when Anghammarad died.
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Nov 27, 2007 22:46
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Man of Straw posted:Did anyone else get the impression that Thud was written expressly to sell board game and picture book tie-ins? I didn't get that feeling from it at all - not even slightly. Thud came out shortly after the 2005 London Tube bombings, and when I first read it much in the book struck close to home, but not board games or picture books
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Nov 27, 2007 23:05
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thrakkorzog posted:I think it's because Nanny and Granny suffer a bit from Rincewind syndrome. Their characters can't really change, so they're a bit limited in their narrative conflicts. Granny Weatherwax is never going to see the error of her ways and decide to stop messing with people's heads. Jekub posted:It's sort of the same as with the Witch books, I mean what's left for Granny to beat? The Tiffany Aching books give a bit of a different perspective on Granny. By Wintersmith she is starting to show her age. You can infer that Tiffany might even replace her as the most respected witch in terms of power. Maybe she'll even retire... Whether or not Pratchett returns to the Witches as story leads is another question.
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Nov 28, 2007 00:33
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Keshik posted:I got teary eyed when Anghammarad died. Aha! I knew I wasn't the only one! When I was goading my girlfriend into reading Going Postal I told her there was one part that got me all teary-eyed. After she finished reading it she asked me what part it was and I had to pretend I didn't know what she was talking about  .
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Nov 28, 2007 10:45
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Today, I found out what the Scone of Stone refers to. Apparently, there is a thing called the Stone of Scone, on which Scotland's kings were crowned. I laughed very hard at that, much to the bemusement of my classmates. Regarding Thud! putting people in mind of the London Subway bombing: Fifth Elephant struck pretty close to home for me. Pratchett captured the atmosphere of the former Soviet Bloc pretty well. I love how spot-on he can be about political issues.
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Nov 28, 2007 18:44
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Just curious, are the Science of Discworld books worth me picking up? I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about science related issues, not enough to debate the merits of competing string theories, but enough to have a pretty good concept of things like inertia, gravitational constants, black holes, etc. From what I've seen the books seem like a sort of 'A Brief History of Time' but with the UU Wizards. I'm just wondering if the humor of the wizards acting like wizards is worth reading through chem/physics/bio 101 type stuff.
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Nov 29, 2007 06:05
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thrakkorzog posted:Just curious, are the Science of Discworld books worth me picking up? I enjoyed them, and not having spent any time on the subjects before I learned quite a lot as well. My dad on the other hand got lost and bored with the science in the first one and just skipped through for the Discworld sections for the rest. I guess how you take them will depend entirely on whether the different subjects in the three books appeal to you., either way you get wizards, which is never a bad thing.
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Nov 29, 2007 08:56
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Sulevis posted:Today, I found out what the Scone of Stone refers to. Apparently, there is a thing called the Stone of Scone, on which Scotland's kings were crowned. I laughed very hard at that, much to the bemusement of my classmates. If we're being pedantic, it's also most likely/probably not! the Stone of Fail (there's a fada there somewhere), which was taken to Scotland from Ireland what we can only call "hella long time ago" and which uttered a shout whenever the true High King of Ireland sat upon it. That's where the other part of the Scone's mythos about the hands comes from. The first and third Science of Discworld books are pretty good, but the story and to a degree the science bits do flow from one book to another, so get the first one first. The second one is easily the weakest of the trio because it consists mostly of the Elves on one hand and telling you why your religion is wrong on the other. The third one isn't as heavy handed though. Nilbop fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Nov 29, 2007 |
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Nov 29, 2007 13:27
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thrakkorzog posted:I'm just wondering if the humor of the wizards acting like wizards is worth reading through chem/physics/bio 101 type stuff. Picture all the good parts of The Last Continent. That's what the story sections of the Science books are like.
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Nov 29, 2007 15:47
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It's likely to be Fáil. I've seen that word before around here. I enjoyed the first Science of Discworld novel, but I hesitate to get the next two. Pop science books that involve physics tend to depress me since they inevitably start discussing the end of the universe.
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Nov 29, 2007 16:22
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I just started reading Maskerade this morning, and it's the funniest one since, oh somewhere around the first bunch. I wasn't really thrilled with the last couple of witch books, so it's a really pleasent surprise.
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Nov 29, 2007 20:54
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Nilbop posted:If we're being pedantic, it's also most likely/probably not! the Stone of Fail (there's a fada there somewhere), which was taken to Scotland from Ireland what we can only call "hella long time ago" and which uttered a shout whenever the true High King of Ireland sat upon it. That's where the other part of the Scone's mythos about the hands comes from. Personally I love the science of Discworld books, I don't have any background in sciences so it's been fascinating to read and discover all the sorts of "inside jokes" the DW books have. Speaking of which, I'd like to recommend the Annotated Pratchett file, it's fun to read once in a while and discover all sorts of small jokes I've missed. [edit] Sulevis posted:It's likely to be Fáil. I've seen that word before around here.
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Nov 30, 2007 14:31
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The first one, I think, brushes on the topic. I remember reading it and thinking "oh god, here we go again with the Big Freeze". It was very enjoyable otherwise.
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Nov 30, 2007 16:18
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Just finished Maskerade, and it got me wondering. Why do they call her Granny Weatherwax if she's never had any children? At one point in the book she even corrects someone who calls her "mrs", and insists on "miss".
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Dec 1, 2007 03:29
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I assume it's like calling a 300lb guy 'Tiny', and giving backward nicknames seems like the kind of thing Lancastrians would consider the height of hilarity.
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Dec 1, 2007 05:30
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LooseChanj posted:Just finished Maskerade, and it got me wondering. Why do they call her Granny Weatherwax if she's never had any children? At one point in the book she even corrects someone who calls her "mrs", and insists on "miss". Because Witches are like the Matriarch's of villages. That's also part of the reason Nanny Ogg has the 'Nanny' (excluding her... brood). A lot of the Witches books have small references to the Witched being Midwives, Herbal Doctors and even Veterinarians in a smaller way.
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Dec 1, 2007 06:33
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Sorry, double post. Just finished Interesting Times, and it was nice to read some Rincewind again. For some reason I had in my head that Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me how much research Pratchett puts into his novels. Not only does it make reference to the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an and the pools of Mercury in the first Emperor's tomb. Link It makes me wonder what else I haven't caught in his novels. I know the Pratchett file is handy but not everything is in there.
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Dec 4, 2007 23:42
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Can someone link me to the Pratchett file. Everywhere I try is either down, or just doesn't respond.
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Dec 5, 2007 01:53
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RagingPawn posted:Can someone link me to the Pratchett file. Everywhere I try is either down, or just doesn't respond. This is the only one I know of, it was working a few days ago but seems to be very slow now: http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/
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Dec 5, 2007 03:23
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Nilbop posted:I'm pretty sure The Watch are his favourite group and he's just going to keep banging them out until his head explodes. Totally agree - I believe that the reason he write the Guards books is because he gets to really develop the character of Ankh-Morpork. Even when the action takes place outside the city, Sam IS the city. It's so wonderful to watch it develop. Moist von Lipwig posted:I had to think about it, but I agree, the Guard books are probably the best, although the Lipwig stories are my personal favourites < My only problem with the newest Lipwig novel is that it really seemed like a retelling of Going Postal, only swap out the stamps for money. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book (I don't think there is a Pratchett book I didn't truly enjoy, just ones I wouldn't re-read as often), but it did seem like he phoned the plot in...
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Dec 5, 2007 09:27
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Eskarina posted:My only problem with the newest Lipwig novel is that it really seemed like a retelling of Going Postal, only swap out the stamps for money. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book (I don't think there is a Pratchett book I didn't truly enjoy, just ones I wouldn't re-read as often), but it did seem like he phoned the plot in... This is partially true, but what really sets them apart is the philosophy behind them. Making Money was totally about economics, especially Keynesian economics. Going Postal on the other hand had a lot to do with corporations and the Internet, communications standards. The basic plotline was similar, but, to me at least, they we're two very different stories.
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Dec 9, 2007 10:54
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So I have a question for the BB people who have read the Truth and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Whats up with Pin/Tulip and Croup/Vandamar being so similar? Are Pin/Tulip based off of Croup/Vandamar? Or are they based off of something completely different that I haven't heard of not being British? Or is it just a case of great minds think alike?
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Dec 9, 2007 16:47
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linall posted:So I have a question for the BB people who have read the Truth and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Whats up with Pin/Tulip and Croup/Vandamar being so similar? Are Pin/Tulip based off of Croup/Vandamar? Or are they based off of something completely different that I haven't heard of not being British? Or is it just a case of great minds think alike? Pratchett and Gaiman have written a book together, so I assume they know each other fairly well and it was something like a nod to Neverwhere. They even had the Old Firm/New Firm thing going on, it was pretty neat. Edit: I'm British, and can't think of anything they're based off.
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Dec 9, 2007 20:24
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linall posted:So I have a question for the BB people who have read the Truth and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Whats up with Pin/Tulip and Croup/Vandamar being so similar? Are Pin/Tulip based off of Croup/Vandamar? Or are they based off of something completely different that I haven't heard of not being British? Or is it just a case of great minds think alike? I noticed that too, and I always just assumed it was a nod to Neverwhere. If it's a reference to something else, then it's still at least a cool coincidence.
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Dec 10, 2007 05:01
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Pratchett explained this in, ooooh, one of Kidby's art collection books, that they're not based on anyone. If you have a gang consisting of two members, narrative perrogative demands that one of them be weasely and the brains of the outfit, and the other big and fick and talk like dis. He goes on to say that the same holds if you introduce a third character to the group, except this one will be named "Fingers".
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Dec 10, 2007 15:15
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Hey guys, in case you missed it, ION is showing Hogfather again this week. On Tuesday at 9 they're showing part 1 and then on Wednesday they're showing part 2 again at 9. Then on December 23 they're showing both parts starting at 7. So get your DVRs ready. It's apparently also coming to DVD, but only at Borders and not apparently online. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071022/20071022005910.html?.v=1
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Dec 11, 2007 01:45
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Welp, Terry Pratchet has a "rare form of early onset Alzheimer's". http://www.paulkidby.com/news/index.html This sucks hard. Edit - quoting for irony. Moist von Lipwig posted:This is sadly true, it's almost like literary Alzheimer's or something.
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Dec 12, 2007 14:37
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gently caress. I guess we all have to go sometime, but Alzheimer's is an ugly way to go.
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Dec 12, 2007 15:30
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